


Of Nightmares and the Hugs of a Father

by BanditHallows



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26771878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BanditHallows/pseuds/BanditHallows
Summary: Super fluffy oneshot about the fragile father-daughter-relationship between Rossi and Emily:After her last date took a terrible turn, Emily seeks protection in the hugs of the man that had long become her father.
Kudos: 16





	Of Nightmares and the Hugs of a Father

Jumping out of the cab and nearly sprinting towards the mansion in front of her, Emily couldn't hold in her tears any longer.

What started off as a beautiful evening had turned into her worst nightmare. It was supposed to be the night of the nights, her third date with Michael, him picking her up from home like a queen, taking her out into this fancy restaurant, the laughter, the shy kisses over expensive champagne… The short stopover at the noble club afterwards, so he could introduce „his girl" to the world… Everything was so perfect - until it wasn't anymore. As the memories of him dragging her into a dark ally and pressing her against the cold stonewall started coming back to her, she ran even faster and threw herself at the door with all her might, hammering against them with her fists as if to scare away the images in her head.

As the lights in the foyer were turned on, she heard an all too familiar voice via intercom: „Who the hell do you think you are, acting like a lunatic?!"

Still shivering, from fear, the cold and relieve of finally being in her safe haven altogether, she whispered the only words her tear-fogged brain could come up with: „Dad? Help me…"

On the other side of the door, nothing in this world could have made Rossi's heart drop faster than these three words. Hearing her voice so… distraught and broken, he didn't waste another second and ripped open the door. What greeted his eyes, though, didn't just make his heart drop, but shatter in thousands of pieces: Emily, the former strong, unbreakable soldier, his closest friend, his little girl, stood at his doorstep, her cashmere scarf protectively wrapped around her shoulders, facing away from him, scanning the bushes in the garden with her eyes as if expecting a monster to jump at her any second, every muscle in her body tensed. Even with only the meager light from inside he could see how badly she was shaking, her dress was torn apart, her bra clearly visible in between the tears and even though he still hadn't seen her face yet, he could see the clear bruise of a handprint wrapped around her slender throat.

„Dolcezza, what happened to you?"

He quickly guided her inside, draping the warmest blanket he could find around her shoulders as they sat down at his couch.

Never in his life had he felt this helpless before. What was he supposed to do now? All he wanted to do - except smashing this guy's face, which undoubtedly would soon be Morgan's job - was to pull her close and never let her go again, but could she even stand his touch? Should he say something or did she want her peace and quiet? Should he call somebody - anybody or would that break her trust in him?

All the years of FBI training, profiling, talking with families and victims, meeting the worst kinds of people this world had to offer face to face - all of that hadn't prepared him for this type of moment.

Emily just sat motionless where Rossi had seated her, pulling the blanket even closer around her shoulders, staring absentmindedly into the big nothing, as the evening kept replaying over and over and over in her head.

Careful as not to startle her, he slowly reached out and cupped her cold hands in his.

"Piccola? Look at me please… Do we…" he paused shortly, obviously afraid of the answer that would follow his question, "Shall we call the police? Do we need to go see a doctor?"

Even though her father figure tried his best to approach her as gently as possible, she still jumped at the sudden contact, snapping out of her trance.

"Uhm… what? No, no, I'm fine I guess. He didn't… I kicked him in the balls and ran before he got the chance to do anything worse, he just… Nothing happened, really. He…" again she trailed off, her eyes focusing again on a memory he couldn't see.

"'He just' what, Emily? What did he do?", Rossi tried again, hoping he didn't overstep her boundaries, she looked as frail as a scared deer, panic still obviously etched in her face.

With new tears streaming down her face, she finally turned to look at him and after a moment of contemplation whispered barely audible: "He managed to fool me, Papà… I never suspected a thing. Ever since… ever since Doyle I've been so careful, I never let anybody get too close. I promised myself I'd never let another man treat and hurt me like he did, I ran background checks on anybody I met and if I only had so much as a bad feeling in the gut I'd turn away. But with him… I trusted him! How could I've been so stupid, I… I didn't even check where we were going, I just blindly followed him into an ally, I didn't count the drinks I had, I never even questioned why he kept refilling the glass, I. NEVER. DOUBTED. HIM!" Basically screaming the last words, she smashed one of the throw pillows against the nearest wall and buried her face in her hands as deep sobs started shaking her frame.

Throwing all cautions to the wind, Rossi instinctively closed the distance between them and scooped her up in his arms, rocking them both back and forth, trying to give her as much comfort as he could offer.

After a while, her sobs started to quiet down, but he still wouldn't let go of her, continuing to stroke through her hair.

For Rossi, Emily had always been like a daughter and, knowing her childhood and family all too well, she sure was in dire need of a loving father figure in her life. But while he was continually planting little nicknames for her in their private conversations, she had always just smiled happily, the word Dad always hanging unspoken in her eyes. Up until tonight, she had never called him Papà before. And even tough in any other situation this single world could have made him the happiest man alive, tonight it only made it worse.

But he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind again. This wasn't about him.

All that mattered at the moment was his little girl, being safe in his arms, he kept telling himself over and over again, as he carefully tucked a loose strand behind her ear and rested his chin on her head. And as her breaths became more even, his thoughts stopped tumbling, too.

Somewhen in the middle of the night Emily was awakened by some unexpected movement, feeling as if she was being carried away.

For a second, panic overcame her and just as she tensed her muscles to beat the living daylight out of whoever had her in this moment, the familiar scent of her mentor's cologne reached her nose. Taking in the environment around her, she found her head resting against Rossis chest, her hands clinging at his shirt as he carried her to bed.

"Sleep, mia caro…" he whispered, as he put her down and tucked her in, "I'll be there the whole time". After a loving kiss on her forehead, he lay down on next to her and pulled her close again.

In any other moment she would have protested. She would have screamed, stomped, even thrown a fist or two in the general direction of anybody who dared treating her like a little kid. But not today, not tonight. Maybe tomorrow she could be the unbreakable soldier again, but feeling so safe in her father's arms, she snuggled even closer in his embrace and closed her eyes again.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know... This may seem a little OOC for our beloved, ass-kicking Prentiss, but after watching the series finale, I really needed some meaningless fluff. Badly.
> 
> And I was always fascinated by this really special relationship Rossi has with his "Unit-Kids", especially with Emily. There are so many words left unspoken, so I tried to give them a little outlet here...
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you liked it :)


End file.
